Soil fertility and establishment potential of inoculated cyanobacteria in rice crop grown under non-flooded conditions

An investigation was undertaken using a combination of microbiological and DNA-based approaches to evaluate combinations of two/three/four cyanobacterial strains (BF1 Anabaena torulosa; BF2, Nostoc carneum; BF3, Nostoc piscinale; BF4, Anabaena doliolum), using a novel vermicompost-based carrier, for their promise as inoculants in rice crop. The crop was maintained under 60% WHC through intermittent irrigation. Selected combinations (BF1 + 2 + 3; BF1 + 2 + 4; BF1 + 3 + 4) showed a consistent trend regarding their superiority over other treatments in terms of plant growth promotion and soil microbiological parameters. Microscopic examination of soil enrichment cultures raised from the treatments revealed their comparative abundance over native flora. A significant enhancement in terms of soil microbial biomass carbon and humus content was also recorded in these treatments. The soil enzymatic profile of the inoculated treatments involving FDA, dehydrogenase, acid phosphates, alkaline phosphatase, aryl esterase and β-glucosidase also revealed the promise of the inoculated strains. 16SrDNA sequencing, followed by BLAST analyses provided valuable information regarding the establishment of Anabaena strains. RFLP analyses of the 16SrDNA sequences of soil DNA and phylogenetic analyses vis a vis sequences of the inoculated cyanobacterial strains revealed the promise of treatments ?BF1 + 2 + 3, BF1 + 2 + 4 and BF1 + 3 + 4. Panicle weight (yield attribute) was statistically at par with the fertilizer controls 1/2N + PK and significantly higher than 1/3N + PK. To our knowledge, this represents a first report on evaluating the establishment of cyanobacterial inoculants in rice crop grown under non-flooded conditions (or intermittent irrigation) using a combination of agronomic, microbiological and soil DNA related attributes.     

Biochemical and histochemical traits: a promising way to screen resistance against spot blotch (Bipolaris sorokiniana) of wheat

Spot blotch caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana is a serious disease of wheat in warmer and humid regions of the world. Three blighting components, area under disease progress curve (AUDPC), disease severity (DS) and lesion size along with four biochemical and histochemical factors viz., total phenol content (TPC), chlorophyll content (CHC), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity and lignin deposition were studied in a recombinant inbred lines (RILs) population involving parents “Sonalika” (susceptible) and “Yangmai 6” (resistant). The objective was to identify one or more robust and reliable tools of resistance, physical, biochemical or histochemical, to facilitate selection against spot blotch. The DS, AUDPC and lesion size were higher in the susceptible parent and RILs compared to the resistant. The mean TPC (246 mg Gallic acid g^?1 fresh weight) of the most resistant RIL was significantly higher than the most susceptible (181.5 mg Gallic acid g^?1 fresh weight) at 48 h after inoculation (hai). The mean SPAD value for CHC varied between 48.8 in the most resistant RILs to 8.8 in the most susceptible, while the mean PAL varied between 928.4 and 96.0 μmoles Cinnamic acid mg^-1 fresh weight at 48 hai in resistant and susceptible RILs, respectively. Likewise, lignin deposition was significantly higher in resistant RILs compared to the susceptible. The biochemical and histochemical parameters were significantly correlated with resistance and appeared robust for facilitating screening of breeding material and for increased precision in phenotyping against spot blotch.     

Pollination behaviour of Nardostachys jatamansi DC., an endangered medicinal and aromatic herb

Nardostachys jatamansi is a perennial, endangered medicinal and aromatic herb of family Valerianaceae, distributed in subalpine to alpine areas. Being an endangered species it should be conserved through in situ as well as ex situ methods. Study of reproductive biology is necessary for effective conservation of endangered plants and pollination behaviour is an integral part of reproductive biology. Present study deals with pollination behaviour of N. jatamansi. Parthenocarpy, passive autogamy, active autogamy, geitonogamy and xenogamy experiments were applied in this study. Flowering (peak) takes place during the month of July–August and anthesis between 7:00–11:00 h. Anthers disperse pollen grains after 24 h of anthesis. Stigma is of protogynous type. Fruit set recorded in above experiments was 40% in passive autogamy, 70% in active autogamy, 53.33% in xenogamy and 86.67% in geitonogamy as well as open pollination experiments. The species is self-pollinated but dependent on pollinators for optimum pollination. Cross pollination may have adaptive value for species as it compensate failure of autogamy and also maintains genetic variability in the population. Crop improvement program may be initiated through xenogamy.     

Development of real-time PCR assay for the detection of Mycoplasma bovis

Mycoplasma bovis is one of the important bovine mycoplasma involved in economically important clinical conditions like respiratory diseases, otitis media, and mastitis. The present study was undertaken with the objective of developing a SYBR Green dye-based real-time PCR assay targeting uvrC gene for the diagnosis of M. bovis. The analytical sensitivity and specificity of the assay were evaluated. The test showed 10³-fold more sensitivity than conventional PCR and detected down to 100 fg level of DNA. It was found to be specific, as no cross reactivity was shown with other related bacteria and Mycoplasma species. The developed assay was able to detect down to 40 copies of uvrC gene from spiked bovine milk samples. At present, this developed assay may be used as a valuable diagnostic tool for the detection of Mycoplasma bovis.

     

Identification of irradiated cashew nut by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

Cashew nut samples were irradiated at gamma-radiation doses of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 kGy, the permissible dose range for insect disinfestation of food commodities. A weak and short-lived triplet (g = 2.004 and hfcc = 30 G) along with an anisotropic signal (g perpendicular = 2.0069 and g parallel = 2.000) were produced immediately after irradiation. These signals were assigned to that of cellulose and CO 2 (-) radicals. However, the irradiated samples showed a dose-dependent increase of the central line (g = 2.0045 +/- 0.0002). The nature of the free radicals formed during conventional processing such as thermal treatment was investigated and showed an increase in intensity of the central line (g = 2.0045) similar to that of irradiation. Characteristics of the free radicals were studied by their relaxation and thermal behaviors. The present work explores the possibility to identify irradiated cashew nuts from nonirradiated ones by the thermal behaviors of the radicals beyond the period, when the characteristic electron paramagnetic resonance spectral lines of the cellulose free radicals have essentially disappeared. In addition, this study for the first time reports that relaxation behavior of the radicals could be a useful tool to distinguish between roasted and irradiated cashew nuts.     

Predictive models for dry biomass and carbon stock estimation in Litchi chinensis under hot and dry sub-humid climate

Accurate and reliable predictive models are necessary to estimate above and below ground biomass of plant and biomass carbon stock non-destructively. Different growth models namely viz, Linear, Allometric, Logistic, Gompertz, Richard’s, Negative exponential, Monomolecular, Mitcherlich and Weibull were fitted to the relationship between dry biomass of litchi tree components with collar diameter. Richard’s model outperformed the others and fulfilled the validation criterions to the best possible extent with lowest Akaike information criteria (AICc) of 90.47 and root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.79. The value of adjusted R² ranged from 0.947 to 0.971 for the Richard’s models fitted on various biomass components and the ‘t’ values for all the components was found non-significant (p > 0.05) indicating the validation of the model. The estimated total dry biomass varied from 0.50 Mg ha^?1 in two year to 5.71 Mg ha^?1 in 10 year old litchi orchards. The estimated stored biomass carbon stock in litchi orchards (branches, bole and roots) varied from 0.10 Mg ha^?1 in two year to 1.85 Mg ha^?1 in 10 year orchards with CO₂ sequestration potential from 0.19–4.63 Mg ha^?1.     

Genetic parameters of survival in four generations of Indian white shrimp (Fenneropeneaus indicus)

This study evaluated the genetic variance for survival at harvest of Indian white shrimp (Fenneropenaeus indicus) using a pedigreed synthetic population generated upon collecting broodstock from different fishery grounds in Egypt. The estimated heritabilities (h² ± SE) of survival from generations G₀ to G₃ ranged from 0.144 ± 0.026 to 0.008 ± 0.030 using a model that included the common environmental effect (c²). Low heritability (0.014 ± 0.015) was estimated across generations with the inclusion of common environmental effect (c²). However, the h² of survival from G₀ to G₁ ranged from 0.569 ± 0.071 to 0.410 ± 0.011 when c² was not included. The genetic correlation for survival between different ponds from G₀ to G₃ was moderate to high (0.79 ± 0.042 to 0.83 ± 0.012) but significantly different (P < 0.05). There were low correlation coefficients (?0.237 ± 0.089 to 0.316 ± 0.073) between body weight estimated breeding value (EBV) and survival EBV of families in four generations.     

Nitric oxide inhibited the melanophore aggregation induced by extracellular calcium concentration in snakehead fish, Channa punctatus

We studied the role of nitric oxide (NO) and extra-cellular Ca(2+) on the melanophores in Indian snakehead teleost, Channa punctatus. Increase of Ca(2+) level in the external medium causes pigment aggregation in melanophores. This pigment-aggregating effect was found to be inhibited when the external medium contained spontaneous NO donor, sodium nitro prusside (SNP) at all the levels of concentration tested. Furthermore, it has been observed that SNP keeps the pigment in dispersed state even after increasing the amount of Ca(2+). In order to test whether NO donor SNP causes dispersion of pigments or not is checked by adding the inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, N-omega-Nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) in the medium. It has been noted that the inhibitor L-NNA blocked the effect of NO donor SNP causing aggregation of pigments. In that way NO is inhibiting the effect of extracellular Ca(2+), keeping the pigment dispersed.